April23
Volkswagen won’t sell its Scirocco hatchback in the United States, despite the popularity of the original coupe in America. VW isn’t willing to risk cannibalizing sales of the GTI, says Adrian Hallmark, executive vice president of Volkswagen of America.
“It is economically suicidal for us to risk the sales volume and the potential for GTI,” Hallmark told Automotive News. “We don’t want it,” Hallmark said of the Scirocco.
The Scirocco will have the same engine, chassis, and suspension as the GTI. It will be based closely on the Iroc Concept, which debuted in August 2006.
The market for hatchbacks isn’t large enough in the United States to support another model. “The coupe/hatchback market is so small that having six different coupes and hatchbacks would be crazy,” Hallmark said.
Why wouldnt they do this to blow Volvo’s new hatch out of the water?
VW probably fears the upcoming Saturn Astra will slaughter it in the market. Look at the competition: GTI sales are already in the tank and the Audi A3 sold like 2 cars. Why would they waste the money and time on a cart that pales next to the Saturn? Might as well keep it in Europe where they can sell a few to those who can’t afford the luxury of an Opel.
Volvo also picked the wrong time to market the C30, they should have done it years ago before GM decided to bring over the Astra. Volvo is going to lose their shirts. We should be talking more about the Astra, it’s going to be the next big thing in the US.
I don’t know for sure, but I for one would probably still buy the GTI. I’m a fan of cars with an interesting history. And it would probably be cheaper and roomier than this.
As a former GTI owner, I’ve always believed that there was room for both the GTI and the Scirocco/Corrado. The former was a tad more practical with a roomier back-seat and the latter, being lower and having a sleeker profile appealed to those who cherished sport above the extra space.
But… I guess the bean-counters made the call here.
DAMNITT VW!!!
The GTI needs to lay off the schnitzel and drop 200 or so pounds. At least VW is being honest and not rebadging the US GTI as a ‘Scirocco’ for cheap marketing points (*cough Ford Taurus cough*)
VW has been profoundly neglecting their US operations for a very long time. US vehicle options are limited, and even when we get something good like the R32 they dumb it down by excluding distinctive touches like the Recaro seats and manual transmission. Foolish decisions like this is why VW has been unprofitable in the USA for years…and they’ve certianly earned it.
Madcapp is 1000% correct.
VW keeps giving us **** and they wonder why no one drools after VWs.
The say the Golf/Rabbit is so important, yet the give us the R32 watered down and years late.
Maybe the REAL reason is that they think it will cannabalize TT sales, not GTI sales. They make a lot more money off the TT, and the Scirocco is more similar to that. If, that’s the case it’s an understandable move. VW, however, does need a “halo” vehicle, but I am not sure this would be it, either. Too bad they are making it more of a “chopped” GTI rather than a true 2dr hatch or coupe like the Corrado/Scirroco of old. I think if they made it a true coupe, which they don’t have and which the TT isn’t, more of a 330i coupe competitor, they’d have something here…Maybe they’ll throw us a mid-engine Miata fighter we’ve heard about off and on the last few years…a “new” Ghia so to speak.
Damn! I was looking forward to my son driving one of these new Sciroccos in 18 years as his first car - much like I did 18 years ago.
will these be available in Canada?
“the luxury of an Opel”
That gave me the best laugh I’ve had in ages. Vauxhall/Opel make some of the ****tiest cars I’ve ever had the misfortune of driving. Corsa, anyone?
Screw you Eion. Seriously, you do NOT know what you’re talking about so please move along. Again, Opel competes with VW in the UK and most of the time, they get the nod. VW is washed up, quality issues and ridiculous pricing have made them not worth the money. You get far more luxury, way better quality and reliability with a GM (Opel) than with your typical German moneypit. The US has pretty much spit VW/Audi out of this country and the UK is doing the same. VW sells well in China, but even there Buick reigns supreme. What does that tell you about Volkswagon?
General Motors slaughters VW across the globe, the Opel Astra has struck fear into the hearts and minds of VW and their fans. Get with the program, you are supporting an orphan brand.
It isn’t “cannibalizing!” They’re diffeent products. Up the Scirocco’s price a little an they become different in pricing too. Ughhhhh…. IDIOTS!
Head Idiot at the VW board room: “Hey, everyone. Let’s bring the absolute failure Phaeton back to the US, and a new minivan which isn’t even our own even though minivan sales are falling faster than ever before. But the Scirocco? NO. That would be TOO smart of us. We can’t have that.”
Other board members: “Yeah! Yeah! We’re dumb like you are! Yeah! Let’s do that!”
ehhh, it’s FWD anyway… If it was AWD or RWD it would be enough to differentiate it from the GTI… I’d buy it over the GTI if I had to choose a front driver, but I’m in the market for a real car. RWD or AWD only.
As a VW fan I say offer both and let the market determine which is wanted more. At least then VW would have a clue as to what Americans want. I’d rather have the Scirocco than the fat GTI. Scirocco is more like the original GTI -lighter, sportier and just the right balance of power and efficiency. The GTI is damned-near a luxury car -at least the ones I’ve driven. Everybody at VW assumes upmarket is the way to go. It’s my guess that Scirocco might prove them wrong. Their current business model may be all wrong. Let Audi be the upmarket car. Let VW be the sensible, sporty brand that it has always been.
VW’s are unreliable cars anyway. Known too many people with Jetta’s that wanted to torch them, so who cares. Only European cars that are quality are BMW’s and Porsche the rest are troublesome. I know because I worked at a autohaus. When they work they work great but when theres a problem…the cars are over engineered so it’s a long process to diagnose some problems. Thats why I like American cars its pretty much cut and dry to diagnose and repair a problem. Something Europeans don’t know how to do is simplify anything.
Americans don’t like hatchbacks, yawn. I personally love hot hatches but I hate fwd, so where does that leave me? A3 Quattro, R32, already veedub products.
Not true there are tons of Hatches here. Just not the fast ones =( Personally I would go for an awd Focus… I had a 01 Focus hatch and I had a blast with that thing in the canyons.
The GTI is nothing like the lightweight original. The GTI has been a ho-hum car for years. With the Scirocco using the same FWD chassis, maybe it will look better but it won’t necessarily be a better overall car.
To me, VW loses the prestige war of sport compacts on three counts:
1) The GTI is a heavy FWD hatch that sucks
2) The Scirocco is a rebodied GTI. See above.
3) The Golf/Rabbit R32/R36 doesn’t have a manual transmission? What gives?
Let them lose, screw brand loyalty and take a look at a much better “modern day GTI” deal… the MazdaSpeed 3. I don’t like FWD cars at all but it is a car much more in the vein of the original GTI’s.
Lol, all the immature remarks here. Grow up kiddies.
That aside, my opinion.. Most every Volkswagen I’ve ever driven was crap in some fashion or other. This news bothers me none, as I wouldn’t buy a VW anyway.
Gotta make a correction. I would look at a diesel VW if I were in the diesel market.
Hey VW,
The current GTI looks like crap. You should have built on the good looks of the 2004 model. I’d way rather have this scirocco than the current GTI.
VW is bringing the Phaeton back to the USA market.
What happened to their “niche” selling plans ??
Die…VW…Die…Faster…Faster.
This is dumb. They should ditch the GTI (it looks too much like a Golf/Rabbit) and replace it with the Scirocco. Atleast their “sport” model would have some product differentiation then. Other than the wheels and front grill, there’s nothing really special to the GTI visually.
The comments here seem to be along the lines of ‘I’d rather have a svelt Scirocco than a fat GTI.’ But do we have any real reason to believe that the Scirocco wouldn’t be another 3000+ lb porker?
The auto buying public just must not want small, lightweight cars. The manufacturers sure don’t seem to think so. The new BMW M1 will carry on the spirit of the M3? I’ll bet they didn’t even think of putting a 4cyl in it (see E30 M3). It’ll go the same way at VW.
By the time the Scirocco becomes a real car rather than the IROC concept it’ll be a fatass too. =(
The GTI looks drastically different than the Golf, and in europe is marketed as a trim level to a Golf, as it should be here. It has xenon projectors, the entire front fascia, the side and rear skirts, different wheels, different interior, and a number of other small differences. If you cant tell the difference by that, then your blind. Like i said, Market the GTI as a Golf trim level worldwide, and bring in the scirocco 200hp 2.0t as a base trim level, with a scirocco GTI with the 265hp 2.0t (AND A MANUAL TRANSMISSION) out of the S3 for about $30k, and youll be in business. That should be your plan for the US, VW.
Ha ha
The GTI looks too much like a Rabbit/Golf???
Snork, are you trying to look stupid?
The GTI is a souped up, sported out Rabbit/Golf. It always has been, since the beginning.
What’s next? Are you going to post that the Mazdaspeed 3 looks too much like a Mazda3?
I know, maybe that Subaru WRX STI looks too much like a WRX?
Sheesh, people! Think before you post!